Erik Erikson (1902-1994) emphasized the socio-cultural determinants of personality in his theory
of psychosocial development
Psychosocial theory
“Erikson's revision of Freud's theory, which emphasizes socio-cultural (rather than sexual) determinants
of development and posits a series of eight psychosocial conflicts that people must resolve successfully to
display healthy psychological adjustment”
Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
As Freud became widely read, he attracted many followers. However, Freud's pupils did not
always agree with him, and eventually they began to modify some of his ideas and became
important theorists in their own right. Among the best known of the scholar was Erik Erikson.
Comparing Erikson with Freud
Although Erikson (1963, 1982) accepted many of Freud's ideas, he differed from Freud in two
important respects. First, Erikson (1963) stressed that children are active, curious explorers who
seek to adapt to their environments, rather than passive reactors to biological urges who are
molded by their parents. A second critical difference between Erikson and Freud is that Erikson
places much less emphasis on sexual urges and far more emphasis on social and cultural
influences than Freud did. For this reason, we label Freud's theory psychosexual and Erikson's
theory psychosocial. Eight Life Crises (or Psychosocial Stages) Erikson believed that people face
eight major crises, which he labeled psychosocial stages, during the course of their lives. Each
crisis emerges at a distinct time dictated by biological maturation and the social demands that
developing people experience at particular points in life. Each crisis must be resolved
successfully to prepare for a satisfactory resolution of the next life crisis. Table-1 below briefly
describes the psychosocial stages and lists the Freudian psychosexual stage to which it
corresponds. Notice that Erikson's developmental stages do not end at adolescence or young
adulthood as Freud's do. Erikson believed that the problems of adolescents and young adults are
very different from those faced by parents who are raising children or by the elderly who may be
grappling with retirement, a sense of uselessness, and the end of their lives. Most contemporary
,developmentalists agree (Sheldon & Kasser, 2001; Sigelman & Rider,
TABLE-1
Approximate Erikson's stage Erikson's viewpoint: Corresponding
Age or Significant events and social influences Freudian stage
"psychosocial"
Birth to 1 year crisis
Basic trust Infants must learn to trust others to care for their basic needs. If Oral
versus mistrust caregivers are rejecting or inconsistent, the infant may view the
world as a dangerous place filled with untrustworthy or
unreliable people. The primary caregiver is the key social agent.
1 to 3 years Autonomy Children must learn to be "autonomous''-to feed and dress Anal
versus shame themselves, to look after their own hygiene, and so on. Failure to
and doubt achieve this independence may force the child to doubt his or her
own abilities and feel ashamed. Parents are the key social agents.
3 to 6 years Initiative versus Children attempt to act grown up and will try to accept Phallic
guilt responsibilities that are beyond their capacity to handle. They
sometimes undertake goals or activities that conflict with those
of parents and other family members, and these conflicts may
make them feel guilty. Successful resolution of this crisis
requires a balance: The child must retain a sense of initiative
and yet learn not to impinge on the rights, privileges, or goals
of others. The family is the key social agent.
6 to 12 years Industry versus Children must master important social and academic skills. This Latency
inferiority is a period when the child compares him- or herself with peers.
If sufficiently industrious, children acquire the social and
academic skills to feel self-assured. Failure to acquire these
important attributes leads to feelings of inferiority. Significant
social agents are teachers and peers.
12 to 20 years Identity versus This is the crossroad between childhood and maturity. The Early genital
role confusion adolescent grapples with the question "Who am I?” Adolescents (adolescence)
must establish basic social and occupational identities, or they
will remain confused about the roles they should play as adults.
20 to 40 years Intimacy versus The primary task at this stage is to form strong friendships and Genital
(young isolation to achieve a sense of love and companionship (or a shared
adulthood) identity) with another person. Feelings of loneliness or isolation
are likely to result from an inability to form friendships or an
intimate relationship. Key social agents are lovers, spouses, and
close friends (of both sexes).
40 to 65 years Generativity At this stage adults face the tasks of becoming productive in their Genital
(middle versus work and raising their families or otherwise looking after the
adulthood) stagnation needs of young people. These standards of "generativity” are
defined by one's culture. Those who are unable or unwilling to
assume these responsibilities become stagnant and self-centered.
Significant social agents are the spouse, children, and cultural
norms.
Old age Ego integrity The older adult looks back at life, viewing it as either a Genital
versus despair meaningful, productive, and happy experience or a major
disappointment full of unfulfilled promise and unrealized goals.
One's life experiences, particularly social experiences,
determine the outcome of this final life crisis.
, Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model
of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded
cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction
with the environment. Piaget was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s, where his job was
to develop French versions of questions on English intelligence tests. He became intrigued with
the reasons children gave for their wrong answers to the questions that required logical thinking.
He believed that these incorrect answers revealed important differences between the thinking of
adults and children.
Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development.
His contributions include a stage theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational
studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different
cognitive abilities.
What Piaget wanted to do was not to measure how well children could count, spell or solve
problems as a way of grading their I.Q. What he was more interested in was the way in which
fundamental concepts like the very idea of number, time, quantity, causality, justice and so on
emerged.
Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less
competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think in strikingly different
ways compared to adults.
According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically inherited
and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge are based.
Piaget's Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways:
▪ It is concerned with children, rather than all learners.
▪ It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does not address learning of
information or specific behaviors.
▪ It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences, rather than a
gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concepts, ideas, etc.
of psychosocial development
Psychosocial theory
“Erikson's revision of Freud's theory, which emphasizes socio-cultural (rather than sexual) determinants
of development and posits a series of eight psychosocial conflicts that people must resolve successfully to
display healthy psychological adjustment”
Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
As Freud became widely read, he attracted many followers. However, Freud's pupils did not
always agree with him, and eventually they began to modify some of his ideas and became
important theorists in their own right. Among the best known of the scholar was Erik Erikson.
Comparing Erikson with Freud
Although Erikson (1963, 1982) accepted many of Freud's ideas, he differed from Freud in two
important respects. First, Erikson (1963) stressed that children are active, curious explorers who
seek to adapt to their environments, rather than passive reactors to biological urges who are
molded by their parents. A second critical difference between Erikson and Freud is that Erikson
places much less emphasis on sexual urges and far more emphasis on social and cultural
influences than Freud did. For this reason, we label Freud's theory psychosexual and Erikson's
theory psychosocial. Eight Life Crises (or Psychosocial Stages) Erikson believed that people face
eight major crises, which he labeled psychosocial stages, during the course of their lives. Each
crisis emerges at a distinct time dictated by biological maturation and the social demands that
developing people experience at particular points in life. Each crisis must be resolved
successfully to prepare for a satisfactory resolution of the next life crisis. Table-1 below briefly
describes the psychosocial stages and lists the Freudian psychosexual stage to which it
corresponds. Notice that Erikson's developmental stages do not end at adolescence or young
adulthood as Freud's do. Erikson believed that the problems of adolescents and young adults are
very different from those faced by parents who are raising children or by the elderly who may be
grappling with retirement, a sense of uselessness, and the end of their lives. Most contemporary
,developmentalists agree (Sheldon & Kasser, 2001; Sigelman & Rider,
TABLE-1
Approximate Erikson's stage Erikson's viewpoint: Corresponding
Age or Significant events and social influences Freudian stage
"psychosocial"
Birth to 1 year crisis
Basic trust Infants must learn to trust others to care for their basic needs. If Oral
versus mistrust caregivers are rejecting or inconsistent, the infant may view the
world as a dangerous place filled with untrustworthy or
unreliable people. The primary caregiver is the key social agent.
1 to 3 years Autonomy Children must learn to be "autonomous''-to feed and dress Anal
versus shame themselves, to look after their own hygiene, and so on. Failure to
and doubt achieve this independence may force the child to doubt his or her
own abilities and feel ashamed. Parents are the key social agents.
3 to 6 years Initiative versus Children attempt to act grown up and will try to accept Phallic
guilt responsibilities that are beyond their capacity to handle. They
sometimes undertake goals or activities that conflict with those
of parents and other family members, and these conflicts may
make them feel guilty. Successful resolution of this crisis
requires a balance: The child must retain a sense of initiative
and yet learn not to impinge on the rights, privileges, or goals
of others. The family is the key social agent.
6 to 12 years Industry versus Children must master important social and academic skills. This Latency
inferiority is a period when the child compares him- or herself with peers.
If sufficiently industrious, children acquire the social and
academic skills to feel self-assured. Failure to acquire these
important attributes leads to feelings of inferiority. Significant
social agents are teachers and peers.
12 to 20 years Identity versus This is the crossroad between childhood and maturity. The Early genital
role confusion adolescent grapples with the question "Who am I?” Adolescents (adolescence)
must establish basic social and occupational identities, or they
will remain confused about the roles they should play as adults.
20 to 40 years Intimacy versus The primary task at this stage is to form strong friendships and Genital
(young isolation to achieve a sense of love and companionship (or a shared
adulthood) identity) with another person. Feelings of loneliness or isolation
are likely to result from an inability to form friendships or an
intimate relationship. Key social agents are lovers, spouses, and
close friends (of both sexes).
40 to 65 years Generativity At this stage adults face the tasks of becoming productive in their Genital
(middle versus work and raising their families or otherwise looking after the
adulthood) stagnation needs of young people. These standards of "generativity” are
defined by one's culture. Those who are unable or unwilling to
assume these responsibilities become stagnant and self-centered.
Significant social agents are the spouse, children, and cultural
norms.
Old age Ego integrity The older adult looks back at life, viewing it as either a Genital
versus despair meaningful, productive, and happy experience or a major
disappointment full of unfulfilled promise and unrealized goals.
One's life experiences, particularly social experiences,
determine the outcome of this final life crisis.
, Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model
of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded
cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction
with the environment. Piaget was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s, where his job was
to develop French versions of questions on English intelligence tests. He became intrigued with
the reasons children gave for their wrong answers to the questions that required logical thinking.
He believed that these incorrect answers revealed important differences between the thinking of
adults and children.
Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development.
His contributions include a stage theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational
studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different
cognitive abilities.
What Piaget wanted to do was not to measure how well children could count, spell or solve
problems as a way of grading their I.Q. What he was more interested in was the way in which
fundamental concepts like the very idea of number, time, quantity, causality, justice and so on
emerged.
Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less
competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think in strikingly different
ways compared to adults.
According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically inherited
and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge are based.
Piaget's Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways:
▪ It is concerned with children, rather than all learners.
▪ It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does not address learning of
information or specific behaviors.
▪ It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences, rather than a
gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concepts, ideas, etc.
